Buying cameras to use for as long as possible

[Pfreddee]

Roger, I've never bought a camera for an investment, only for use. (Of course, I add, parenthetically, that no one has ever wanted any of the cameras that I own, or anything else, for that matter, but that's another story. Not complaining. It's just the way things are.)

Having said that, I come to look on my cameras as old friends, and enjoy their company as long as possible. If one isn't working out for me, I'll swap it off from something that I think will work better, but that's the extent of my buying and selling.

With best regards,

Pfreddee(Stephen)

 

[Roger Hicks]

I do like the idea of coming across gear for nothing for resale on here, though. I know that might sound a bit resaley but I want to get stuff for nothing and sell for really good deals on here to keep the community going.

Even if I try to maximize profit by selling stuff at face value it has in the past failed consistently. I seem to only be able to sell to people who need a good deal, and they get one. For example I got a OM1 for next to nothing circumstantially, and I am selling it for $25 with original 50mm lens to a friend who wants a camera but has hardly any money. Could I buy a new cap for the bottom and get $100 out of it? Eh maybe eventually, but whatever he is going to be happy and I do not have to sit on for a year on Evilbay.

Absolutely. It's all about good feelings. My last Zorkii 4K went the same way. And, really, the only Leica I've sold in 20 years: a friend who wanted an M2, which I sold at the bottom end of 'reasonable'.

Cheers,

R.

 

[nikon_sam]

Dear Sam,

What's the body mod? I must have forgotten...

Cheers,

R.

Roger,

On the back of the prism opening the edges are too high...in the later models they are mostly gone...they are actually part of the focusing screen box, they are black painted edges and not part of the chrome top...the finder will hit this edge even with the front nameplate removed...

 

[Roger Hicks]

Roger, I've never bought a camera for an investment, only for use. (Of course, I add, parenthetically, that no one has ever wanted any of the cameras that I own, or anything else, for that matter, but that's another story. Not complaining. It's just the way things are.)

Having said that, I come to look on my cameras as old friends, and enjoy their company as long as possible. If one isn't working out for me, I'll swap it off from something that I think will work better, but that's the extent of my buying and selling.

With best regards,

Pfreddee(Stephen)

Dear Stephen,

Well, as far as I can recall, my black M3 (bought cheap) paid for a new M4P, and my tri-lens turret paid for a new 90/2...

Cheers,

R.

 

[johannielscom]

How about when selling it for a profit?

Buying gear to sell at a profit in the past has helped me save for the gear I eventually could buy to use.

Can't remember when I last sold film gear at a loss. At least I'm playing even, most of the time I make a buck, or sometimes many!

What about the M3 you sold couple of weeks ago?

I also sold that at a profit, actually.

 

[nighstar]

i only ever buy cameras with the intent of using them. i can't afford to buy cameras just to add them to my collection (although i wish i could!) and buying to resale never even occurred to me until i started getting into vintage cameras. it seems like such a pain in the a** thing to do unless you are accustomed to and good at selling things.

recently, however, i have found myself wishing that i were good with my hands so that i could buy non-working vintage cameras and repair them for my own personal use as well as to resale them.... even in that, though, i wouldn't be out to make a profit from reselling so much as just giving an old camera a new life and new owner. it makes me sad that some cameras get thrown away/scrapped. 🙁

 

[Briangudas]

I guess I have a different perspective than most. I often buy gear to resell to fund purchasing gear it want to add to my collection. Half the fun for me is the thrill of the chase. Not in it to make money but i do like to add to my collection. Most of the time I buy a big bundle of gear from someone that has gone digital and sell off everything except what I want for myself in the film stuff.

Bottom line is if you get the right deal going in you can get out without too much pain and move to the next camera. Just my $.02

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

For thirty years, I bought film cameras with an intention to use them forever. I rarely sold anything. Still have most of them.

Now, in the digital age my strategy is completely different. I'm buying one generation behind the bleeding edge, using it intensely, then selling a year or two later to buy the next one. Best success was a Nikon D200 with a net cost of $100 for a year's use.

 

[charjohncarter]

For thirty years, I bought film cameras with an intention to use them forever. I rarely sold anything. Still have most of them.

Now, in the digital age my strategy is completely different. I'm buying one generation behind the bleeding edge, using it intensely, then selling a year or two later to buy the next one. Best success was a Nikon D200 with a net cost of $100 for a year's use.

Col.,

Dr Watson here; I do exactly that but, of course, I wouldn't bother with the digital part.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I guess I have a different perspective than most. I often buy gear to resell to fund purchasing gear it want to add to my collection. Half the fun for me is the thrill of the chase. Not in it to make money but i do like to add to my collection. Most of the time I buy a big bundle of gear from someone that has gone digital and sell off everything except what I want for myself in the film stuff.

Bottom line is if you get the right deal going in you can get out without too much pain and move to the next camera. Just my $.02

Hard to argue with that, EXCEPT that it's all to easy to buy stuff you 'can afford', thereby wasting time on kit that isn't really what you want and ties up money that could better be applied to stuff you actually want.

As I said before, it may be age related, but equally, if there's any pain involved in buying anything for which you don't have real use (or the prospect of a significant profit), why are you buying it?

Cheers,

R.

 

[Midwinter]

Like many, I only buy to fill gaps in my existing arsenal for certain projects/effects and do a lot of research before pulling the trigger. Most of my impulse buy are toy cameras/polaroids and not really worth selling.

Only piece of major equiptment I've ever gotten rid of was 2 months ago a sweet and much loved Mamiya RZ kit (winder, backs, hoods, metered prizm, grip lenses) because I was idiot enough to do a 7 hour shoot with it hand-held...had to go to the hospital as almost every muscle from my wrist, up my arm and across my chest were well past pissed, about 13 lbs of camera for that long in your non-dominant hand alone = lose

oh well, traded it in for some toys from Jermanny called like-a or something.....

 

[zerobuttons]

.....
Who else buys (at least some of) their cameras with no eye whatsoever on resale value, just to use for as long as possible?
.....

I do - but I do that with most of the things I acquire. As far as cameras go, I intend to keep my Konica Hexar RF and Leica MP forever. I sometimes need to use digital - these cameras come and go.

 

[HoodedOne]

I only buy camera gear to use. And will only sell them if I can replace them with something better. But the resell value of a camera is never a reason to buy it in the first place. I buy because I need it (or at least think I need it 😉 ).

 

[raytoei@gmail.com]

i am guilty of buying and selling. Since I am a 2yr old camera newbie, i was in a hurry to learn, try out film and then dispose camera etc . With film cameras generally cheaper than before (except for the recent bump on leica & hassy stuff), it has been an amazing journey for me.

you can see the last big sale here:

http://retro.ms11.net/family6.jpg

all of the cameras have been sold except for the Leica M4-p and the EOS 40D used to take the picture.

my keepers now are:

m4-p
nikon fm
rolleiflex 2.8e
Bronica RF645


i shoot with these cameras regularly, averaging about 3-6 rolls a week. But i am still buying stuff, some of them are incredible bargains which i have never used before, example is the Nikon N90/f90 which I got for 35 off e*bay.

raytoei

 

[perudo]

i am guilty of buying and selling. Since I am a 2yr old camera newbie, i was in a hurry to learn, try out film and then dispose camera etc . With film cameras generally cheaper than before (except for the recent bump on leica & hassy stuff), it has been an amazing journey for me.

you can see the last big sale here:

http://retro.ms11.net/family6.jpg

all of the cameras have been sold except for the Leica M4-p and the EOS 40D used to take the picture.

my keepers now are:

m4-p
nikon fm
rolleiflex 2.8e
Bronica RF645


i shoot with these cameras regularly, averaging about 3-6 rolls a week. But i am still buying stuff, some of them are incredible bargains which i have never used before, example is the Nikon N90/f90 which I got for 35 off e*bay.

raytoei

I am more or less in the same situation as you.
I'm into photography for the last 3 years and have bought and sold several cameras. What is really cool about film photography right now for beginners like me, is that you can try several types of equipment and if you don't like it, sell them without loosing money ( sometimes you even make a profit!) So far I have had several compact, medium format, rangefinders that I sold because they didn't fit perfectly my needs. Now I think I have had/tried every piece of equipment I was looking for and my GAS is slowing down...
So far my real keepers ( cameras I will keep for what they are and not for resale value) are: yashica t5, leica m6, hassy, rf645 (my latest and really awesome acquisition)

 

[Turtle]

Me too. I own quite a few and none were bought with resale in the forefront of my mind.

 

[Chris101]

I've bought all of my cameras (and lenses too) with the intention of using them for as long as they last. I have worn some out, and given away some I replaced with more suitable items. I don't think I have ever sold any camera gear.

----

...
Isn't this obsession with loving objects called Paraphilia or something?

No. Paraphilia means having kinky or perverted sexual desires.

 

[Ben Z]

Photography has always been just a hobby for me, and part of the fun was trying out different cameras and formats. Had I not been conscious of resale potential, I couldn't have done that as much as I did. For 40-some years I always bought my camera gear used, and for most of that time period I could re-sell it (privately, not trading to a dealer) for on average about what I paid for it. So resale value was a non-issue.

When film began to give way to digital and the bottom first began to drop out of the film-camera market, I took a hard-line look at the situation and decided to sell my expensive film gear while it still had most of its value. I sold an extensive Hasselblad system, my Leica R system, and two Canon 1V SLR's. (Thankfully I couldn't bear to part with the Leica M stuff, which lenses are now worth about 3-4 times what I paid for them, and would not even consider purchasing at these prices.)

When I first started buying digital cameras, I made the decision to exercise self-restraint and remain one generation behind current. As such, I bought and sold a Fuji S1, Canon D30, D60 and Rebel each for within $50 of what I paid for them, used.

I'm still using my Canon 20D and 5D-Mk1, both purchased as factory refurbs, and have no desire to upgrade to the current models. If either of them breaks, I will buy something newer, but still used or refurbished.

I also bought a used Epson RD1 and sold that for what I paid. But then came the M8 and later the M9. I think all the money I saved over the years I will have lost on those two cameras which I bought brand-new. :bang: But unlike the M8, the M9 is completely satisfying my needs, and I will not buy an M10 until used ones appear.

 

[healyzh]

Every camera I own (except ones I was given) were purchased to use. I've only sold one of them, and that was the Canon QL17 I got for free when I bought my Hasselblad. I only sold it after I replaced it with my Leica M6 TTL. With only a couple exceptions all of these cameras are used, either by myself, my wife, or our kids.

One of the main exceptions is a Yashica 44LM, it's not used in part because it's 127, but I really want to start using it again if it still works. I believe it was my Mom's first camera, and it was my first camera. Unfortunately the light meter is dead, but I have hand held meters.

 

[KenR]

I generally buy stuff in "bargain" condition as I intend to use it. Somehow I always add my own dings and dents to the equipment, so even if I wanted to sell it, I wouldn't get much for it. I try to use it until it breaks or wears out.